Archive for February 25th, 2013

People seem to love lists, so here’s one: Seventeen categories of academic library (some of them overlapping) where most libraries (with any circulation at all) had more circulation in 2010 than in 2008. (I’m leaving out an eighteenth, “all of them”—but that would also be a true statement.)

Academic institutions in the Great Lakes states: IL, IN, MI, OH, WI. This region includes 501 libraries serving 2,307,450 FTE with 22,915,607 circulation. Of those, 251 (50.1%) had more overall circulation in FY2010.

Schools of art, music and design. This group includes 92 libraries serving 148,590 FTE with 2,281,734 circulation. Forty-eight of the libraries (52.2%) grew in total circulation.

Health profession schools other than medical schools and medical centers—e.g., institutions that award most of their degrees in fields such as chiropractic, nursing, pharmacy or podiatry. This category includes 84 libraries serving 69,342 FTE with 504,641 circulation. Forty-four of those (52.3%) grew in total circulation.

Institutions where bachelor’s degrees represent at least 10 percent but less than half of undergraduate degrees. This group includes 80 libraries serving 226,661 FTE with 1,108,987 circulation. Forty-two of the libraries (52.5%) grew in total circulation.

Associate degree institutions, public, suburban, multi-campus. This category includes 88 libraries and systems serving 721,936 FTE with 3,584,304 circulation. Fifty-two of the libraries (59.1%) had more overall circulation in FY2010 than in FY2008.

For lots more information…

Including circulation per capita changes, the extent to which libraries with growing circulation also had more circulation per capita than those with shrinking circulation, and another brief study taking this back to 2006-2008 and 2006-2010, read the March 2013 Cites & Insights—in the one-column “online version” if you’re planning to read it on an e-device (the charts and tables in the second essay are easier to read), in the two-column “print version” if you plan to print it out.

Another post commenting on Chapter 20 of Give Us a Dollar and We’ll Give You Back Four (2012-13)–now available as a $9.99 Kindle ebook or $21.95 paperback with ISBN 978-1481279161 on Amazon, along with the usual Lulu options. Note that Lulu prices for the paperback and hardback versions are now lower.

New York has the second largest number of libraries (second only to Maine): 745 in the tables, 11 omitted. Many of New York’s libraries are quite well supported, with nearly a quarter in the top bracket and 37% in the top two (compared to 20% overall). Circulation is fairly strong, with 49% circulating at least 10 items per capita and 63% doing eight or more (compared to 38% and 50% overall); expenditures track consistently with circulation. Patron visits are also fairly strong, with 42% of the libraries having seven or more visits per capita (compared to 33% overall); spending also tracks consistently with patron visits. (The budget tables also show consistent correlation between spending and both circulation and visits.)

Program attendance is also fairly strong, with 47% having at least 0.5 attendance (compared to 33% overall). PC use is almost exactly typical, never varying by more than 2% from the national figures.

Libraries by legal service area

LSA

Count

%

Outliers

<700

45

6.0%

2

700-1,149

36

4.8%

1

1,150-1,649

50

6.7%

2

1,650-2,249

51

6.8%

2

2,250-2,999

58

7.8%

2

3,000-3,999

57

7.7%

4,000-5,299

57

7.7%

1

5,300-6,799

65

8.7%

6,800-8,699

47

6.3%

1

8,700-11,099

35

4.7%

11,100-14,099

43

5.8%

14,100-18,499

46

6.2%

18,500-24,999

33

4.4%

25,000-34,499

48

6.4%

34,500-53,999

43

5.8%

54,000-104,999

20

2.7%

105,000-4.1 mill.

11

1.5%

Circulation and spending per capita

Circulation per capita correlates strongly (0.51) with spending per capita